Koibito
by Latromi
Summary: This is a little fic that I thought up. It is about the relationship between Tasuki, Chichiri, and Kouji. It is a deathfic and contains shounen ai material.


Type of writing: Drabble Ficlet

Time: 2:30 PM

Date: Sunday, July 24, 2005

WhereI am while writing this: In car with Sister and Mom driving to Maine.

Disclaimer: Dont own the characters. They belong to Watase Yuu.

AN: Just a heads up, "koibito" means "lover" in japanese as far as my knowledge goes. It will be used as such. Also, I am typing ths in the car, so there might be some errors here and there. This fic deald with Shounen ai, it may have implications of the yaoi nature. But it is nothing hard-core.

Title: Koibito

"Chichiri..."

Tasuki placed a the white flower he held on the earth. He got up off his knees as a single tear floated down his cheek. He turned away from the stone that jutted out from the ground and walked over to his companion.

The older teen embraced the unstable redhead. Letting his younger friend rest his head on his chest. Two amber eyes, filled with tears, looked up at him. They conveyed the emotion of pure fright and sadness. The look that a little boy gives his mother right after being abruptly woken up with a nightmare.

"Why, Kouji? Why did this have to happen?" The tears that the seishi was obviously trying very hard to keep from flowing spilled as he spoke.

The bandits were in a clearing a few minutes walk away from their hideout. They stood under the blue haired seishi's favorite shade tree. In the middle of the clearing there was a pond. The monk had come here every day to meditate and fish. Since Houjun had always traveled before the miko had come to the shijintenchisho, the bandits all agreed that the most appropriate spot for his grave would be here.

After the seishi were done with their duties to their land they had traveled back to the bandit hideout. Chichiri had actually planned to leave to continue his travels, but he found that the younger seishi was actually the only person he really cared about more than his past. He found great comfort in the seishi. After declaring his visit a permanent stay he found that sleeping alone in a bed had become quite difficult. While he was with the miko and the other Seishi he got used to sleeping under the stars with the others when they camped. Even when they stayed at an inn, they always slept in pairs on the larger beds. Getting eight rooms was just too expensive. He and Tasuki spoke to each other and Chichiri found that he was not the only one with this problem, and as a result they agreed to share a room at the hideout. Tasuki _was_ the leader, so his bed was naturally the largest in the entire hideout.

One thing led to another, and being a bandit Tasuki naturally got drunk one night and confessed his secret feelings for Chichiri. The monk had been shocked by the news, but for some reason part of him was neither disgusted nor upset. In fact, most of him was happy with this news. The next night Chichiri told him what had been revealed. The redhead was positive that his companion was going to leave him the next morning now that all of his efforts of keeping his love secret had flown out the window. However, the monk had not said a word, but explained his own feelings through a drawn out kiss. It was that night that the monk had given up his vow of chastity for Tasuki.

Almost an exact year later the Mt. Kao bandits had attacked. Tasuki and Chichiri had gotten separated during battle, and the blue haired seishi had been cornered and outnumbered. The seishi had been critically wounded and left to die, and not much later after that the Mt Reikaku bandits had won the battle with the Kao bandits retreating. In a after-battle frenzy Tasuki and Kouji shouted out orders to anyone that was well enough to bring the injured to the doctor at the hideout. It was Tasuki who realized that his lover was missing from his side. And once he turned around he witnessed the empty-looking case that was Chichiri. Using god-like speed, Tasuki was over to the blue haired man in seconds flat. After roughly ten minutes of love-filled exchanges Chichiri left for heaven in the redhead's arms.

Two days later the funeral was held. It was on the exact day that the two had declared love two each other, only it was just one exact year later.

Tasuki insisted that he was fine every night. But Kouji would go to the grave and find Tasuki there every morning. It has been two weeks since the funeral, and every night Kouji was positive that Tasuki has been sleeping out here by the grave. Just as Kouji had done for the past two weeks, he cradled Tasuki in his arms and then answered.

"I don't know."

Then questioned.

"You slept out here again."

And the same lies from his best friend.

"I woke up and came out 'ere jus' like any normal mornin'. 'Chiri always wakes up before me, an' I always meet 'im out here. He fishes in the morning, ya' know that."

Same reply

"You need to stop sleeping out here. I know you have been. And you need to stop refering to him as if he were still alive."

"He is alive."

"No, Genrou. He is gone. You need to stop this."

This time, Kouji was going to try something different. He wasn't going to let his best friend waste his life away inside. So unlike all the other mornings before this, he said something different.

"Lets go out traveling."

"Where?" Genrou sniffled a bit.

"It's a surprise. Com'on, let's get packed buddy!"

The redhead wiped away a few tears from his cheeks and agreed it might turn out to be okay. He took one last look back at the grave before silently following his friend.

The two friends were at the destination after a few days travel. Kouji had put the two runners up in charge of all operations back at the hideout, so they should be good for the next week or two. Kouji however, was not planning on staying that long at all.

"What is this?" Tasuki was confused at the location Kouji had wanted to keep secret for the entire of their travel there. It looked like the ruins of a town. The was a river running through what Genrou guessed to once be the middle of the town at one time.

"Chichiri's home town." Genrou's knees buckled under him at the answer, hands breaking his fall. He sat up wide-eyed. It was plain to see that tears were forming already. He got up on his feet and looked around, but sight did not come easy as his eyes were already spilling what tears had formed.

Kouji felt he should continue, as his friend was most likely wondering why this had been the secret location. "Chichiri lost the most precious things here Genrou. He left after that. He never forgot those people, but he realized what had happened. That it was all gone. Do you know what would have happened if he had stayed? Do you know what would have happened if he did what you are doing now?" Kouji's voice started to break with pain.

Genrou stopped crying as he realized what he had been doing. He stopped crying as he realized what he was doing to Kouji. He stopped crying as he realized what he was doing to himself. Without notice, Kouji continued to speak. "Genrou. If he had stayed here and done what you are doing he would have died. You never would have met him. Maybe that would have been good in current situations because if you never knew him you would not be pained by his death. But it would have been horrible in the big scheme of things. I would never have been able to see the most important person in my life be the happiest person on earth for a whole year, and you never would have been able to live it. You are killing yourself Genrou. And if you die, I don't know what the hell I have left anymore!" His words were coated with more and more layers of pain with each word he spoke, until he finally was yelling as hard as his broken voice would let him. Rivers of tears poured from his hazel-tinted eyes.

"Oh god, Kouji." Tasuki walked over to his best friend and embraced him. "I'm so sorry. But I love 'Chiri. I can't help it to be sad like this."

"I never said you can't be sad. I just said you have to move on a bit. I will never forget Chichiri, and I will never stop missing him either. He was your lover, but he was my brother. And you are my brother too Genrou. And I hate seeing you sleep next to his grave at night, come inside. You can visit the grave, just don't act like it will disappear if you leave it."

"I love you Kouji. I'll try."

"Good." Kouji wiped his tears and backed slowly out of Genrou's embrace. "Let's set up camp, it's gonna be dark in a few hours."

"Hey! Genrou and Kouji are back!" The guard ran back up to the hideout to tell the rest of the bandits of their leaders return.

The two leaders walked back to the hideout and went to their rooms to put their suff away. Before entering Kouji stopped one of the bandits and asked him, "Is it in his room?"

"Of course it is Kouji." The bandit replied with a smile on his face. "Everything you requested was done long before you returned.

Genrou got into his room to find that it had less objects in it than usual. They probably go rid of Chichiri's clothes and stuff to the poor while we were gone.

Soon after putting his stuff away, Kouji knocked at the door.

"Hello. Who is it? It's Kouji, who would like to ask his best buddy Genrou something! Oh, in that case come right on in!" The door opened and Kouji stepped in , "Thank you."

"What did you want to ask me?"

"Well, there is a new member, and the substitute leaders gave them my room, so..."

"You are sleeping here?"

"Yup!" Kouji grinned weakly. "I was wondering if you could come down to my room and help me move my stuff. I was told that all of Chichiri's stuff was given to the poor. I am sorry about that. But that was what he would have wanted I think."

"You can stay here on one condition."

"Yeah?"

"I won't betray Chichiri."

Kouji was shocked that Genrou thought Kouji was moving in here for that reason. "Hell no Genrou! We are brothers! I love ya', but not like that! Anyways, if I recall right, you were the one that had a crush on me when you were younger. It wasn't the other way around, even if I was willing to that way back then. Things have changed. I would never dream of trying to replace Chichiri!"

"Good." Genrou followed Kouji to his room to help him get his stuff.

When they reached Kouji's room, Kouji let Genrou go in first. The sight leaning on the foot of Kouji's bed moved him to tears. Genrou walked over to the bed and picked up the shakujo with the kesa hung on the top, and the kasa wrapped around it. Genrou unwrapped the kasa and put it over his shoulders. Then he put the kesa on his head, the shakujo in hand as well. He breathed in the heavy scent of Chichiri that still lingered on the precious items and let it overwhelm him. Then he hugged Kouji, tears sliding down his face once more. After that he put the shakujo on top of one of Kouji's already packed boxes and started off down the hall to his room.

Later that night Chichiri's spirit floated in the bandit leader's room. It used to be his and Tasuki's, but he was more than happy to know that his three most precious items were still kept in Genrou's room. The kasa and kesa on hooks on the wall, and the shakujo resting horizontally on the hooks above the hung objects. However, that was not the reason he had asked Taitsukun to let him return. His gaze lay fixed on the best friends. They were holding onto each other in their sleep. Chichiri knew he was never going to be replaced, and even if he was he wouldn't mind being replaced by Kouji. He rather not think about that though. So before he left, he took the soft cloth of his kasa and pulled back the covers on his lover. He placed the kasa over Tasuki and then pulled the covers over it.

"I will always love you Tasuki."

His gentle-spoken words woke Kouji, who stared wide-eyed at the ghost. "I-I-I promise, I wasn't trying to take advantage of- oh shit!"

Kouji's words woke Tasuki. Who just stared at Chichiri's ghost in awe. Tears slid down his cheeks at the sight. Tasuki started to say the same thing Kouji did.

"He wasn't- we weren't going to do any-"

Chichiri cut him off. "I know Tasuki. I am gone now, but I am perfectly aware that you weren't going to. I just came to see you one last time no da."

"I wish you could come back Chichiri. I miss you so much."

"I miss you too. But I want you to know that furthering your relationship with Kouji again will never replace me. You can be lovers again no da. I know you will always love me. Besides na no da, I have some unfinished business with Hikou."

Chichiri gave a smirk that was almost Tasuki-like in nature. Then he floated over to embrace Tasuki. Even though they couldn't feel each other physically, their ki sill reacted so they could feel each other through their energy. Chichiri kissed Tasuki and then whispered in his ear. "No matter what you do, I will always love you."

Chichiri faded away. Leaving Tasuki with a mix of happiness and saddness. Tears spilled from Tasuki's amber eyes for Chichiri one last time. Then he gazed at Kouji, and he embraced his best friend with his mind set on doing exactly what his Chichiri had said. He kissed Kouji deeply, both teens melting at the feeling. Things, over much time, would definitely return to the way they were before Chichiri was met. The two fell over on the bed, parting their lips, ready to fall into a deep sleep once again that night.

Just before they were out, a whisper was heard. Making the two leaders shiver together in their embrace.

"_Koibito"_

The end


End file.
